Cheng, L;
Caset, F;
De Vos, J;
Derudder, B;
Witlox, F;
(2019)
Investigating walking accessibility to recreational amenities for elderly people in Nanjing, China.
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
, 76
pp. 85-99.
10.1016/j.trd.2019.09.019.
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Abstract
Taking into account the rapidly aging demographic landscape in China, securing elderly’s right to participate in society has become an urgent challenge. Geographical access to urban amenities is known to influence social participation and integration. However, the application of accessibility analysis to elderly population in China has received little attention to date. This study examines the walking accessibility to recreational amenities for older adults in the Chinese context with an explicit focus on equity. Building on empirically-based estimates of a cumulative opportunity approach, we calculate the levels of accessibility at the traffic analysis zone level, evaluate how accessibility varies across age cohorts, and present the distribution of accessibility across zones. To this end, we draw on the 2015 Nanjing Travel Survey and the city’s GIS database. Instead of assuming a fixed threshold, this paper applies a spatial expansion model to allow for person- and location-specific walking distances to measure accessibility. The spatial disparities in access to recreational amenities are evaluated using the notion of vertical equity for identifying areas that are better-off or worse-off. Our results show pronounced distributional effects of current land-use and transportation policies for different age cohorts. In particular, elderly people experience lower accessibility to chess/card rooms and urban parks than their younger counterparts. The empirical evidence in this research can inform planning and policy interventions and feed current scientific debates on the role of accessibility in addressing social inclusion for an age-friendly society.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Investigating walking accessibility to recreational amenities for elderly people in Nanjing, China |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.trd.2019.09.019 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2019.09.019 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Aging population, Walking accessibility, Recreational amenities, Adaptive threshold, Vertical equity, Spatial expansion model |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Planning |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10083208 |
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